They call themselves mari. They live in three
ethnic units: Hill Maris, Meadow Maris and Eastern Maris. The
first two of them have also literary languages, Meadow Mari
being also used by the Eastern Maris. Earlier official name
for them is Cheremis(s).

Location

The Republic of Mari (23,000 sq. km., capital city
Yoshkar-Ola) is located at the middle course of the Volga
river in the basins of the rivers Vyatka and Vetluga. 52% of
the Maris live outside the Mari Republic: in Tatarstan,
Bashkortostan, and in the provinces of Kirov and
Yekaterinburg.

Population

Year

Population

In the Mari Republic

Percentage in the Mari
Republic

Knowledge of the native
language

Knowledge
of the native language in the Mari Republic

1897

375,439

1926

428,188

59.9%

51.5%

99.3%

1939

481,600

1959

504,205

55.4%

43.1%

95.1%

1979

621,961

49.3%

43.5%

86.7%

93.7%

1989

670,868

48.3%

43.3%

80.9%

88.4%

The Maris are the only Finno-Ugric nation in Russia whose
population has increased steadily, in spite of the slight
decrease in the use of their native language. The Maris have
retained their language better than any other Finno-Ugric
nation. The percentage of Maris living in the Mari
administrative territory and the proportion of the Maris in
the population of the Mari Republic have remained relatively
unchanging.

Some Turning Points in the History of
the Maris

The past has not been kind to the Maris. They have lived under
the subjection of foreign powers ever since the 6th century (551
Ostrogoths, 7th century Bolgars, 1236 Mongols-Tatars, 1552
Russians). Coming under the Russian sphere of influence has
proved fatal.

2nd half of the 16th c – defensive battles of the Maris,
in the Russian history known as “Cheremiss wars”
(1552-1557, 1572-1574, 1581-1584) ended in defeat and, as a
chronicler has said, “the marshes, lakes and rivers were
filled with the bones of the Maris and the earth saturated
with their blood.” Many Maris resettled in the eastward
territories, Russian colonisation started;

18th c – the migration of Maris continues under the
increased ideological pressure exercised by the Russians
(extensive conversion to Orthodoxy). The Mari national
territory is divided among the provinces of Kazan, Vyatka and
Nizhni Novgorod;

1905-1907 – national awakening of the Maris;

1920 – formation of the Mari Autonomous Province;

1930s – collectivisation and mass repressions, most of
the Mari intellectuals are exterminated;

1950s – the rise of a new wave of Russian
industrialisation and colonisation;

1960s – rapid decline in the use of Mari language in the
community use, Mari language becomes a mere “language of
our own village”.

Danger Signs

The Maris are very dispersed (52% are living outside the
Mari Republic), there are not many who would resettle in
their Republic. The Maris are a minority even in the Mari
Republic. Immigration has brought newcomers chiefly into the
cities. The percentage of the ethnic Maris in the town
population has slowly increased (1959 – 11.3%; 1970 –
15.6%; 1979 – 21.7%; 1989 – 26.1%). Nevertheless, for the
Maris urbanisation means Russification. The Russian language
is prestigious, because it is the language of government,
official business and education. In information and
advertisements it occupies the central and most visible
position. Since Russian prevails in schools and nursery
schools, there are important domains (such as flora and
fauna, for example), where young Maris are unable to
communicate in their native language. Russian has even
penetrated into the family and home sphere (in 1979 13.4% of
families spoke Russian at home; in 1985 33.4%) and even
becomes the mother tongue (for 11.4% of Maris, 23.3% or urban
Maris). Only 5% of Mari children borrow books in the Mari
language from the libraries to read. According to a
sociological inquiry of 1994, 62.7% of the Meadow Maris and
91.8% of the Hill Maris use only their native language to
communicate with their parents, while only 23.3% and 60.9%,
respectively, use the native language to communicate with
their school-aged children. The Mari language and culture are
chiefly upheld by the rural population.

There are obvious examples to demonstrate
that the Maris are also ostracised socially. The immigrant
Russians are privileged in employment, salaries and in
obtaining suitable accommodation. Examples (1985):

Services in dwellings

Russians

Maris

plumbing

71.9%

38.7%

sewers

64.7%

31.7%

hot water

46.1%

21.3%

gas

75.6%

60.0%

telephone

21.3%

16.4%

Signs of Hope

The Maris have shown their initiative and spirit after the
disintegration of the Soviet Union. In 1989 the legal
national political movement Mari Ushem (Mari Union)
was (re-)established, as well as the political party Ushem;
the Mari Congress and its elected Council represent the whole
Mari nation. Since 1990 Mari schools have been restored, and
congregations of their indigenous nature religion have been
founded. That a nature religion gets governmental support is
unique in the whole Europe.